


take only what you need from it

by lbk_princen



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Daddy Issues, Gen, Parental Roy Mustang, Pre-Canon, crap idk how tags work uhhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27192469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lbk_princen/pseuds/lbk_princen
Summary: As much as Ed pretends not to care, Hohenheim's abandonment damaged him more than he knows.Mustang is not a good father, but at least he'sthere.
Relationships: Edward Elric & Roy Mustang
Comments: 15
Kudos: 229





	take only what you need from it

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from Kids by MGMT

Edward and Mustang bicker often, but it isn't often that Ed manages to make the man laugh. Mustang will chuckle every now and then, sure, amused and indulging; it's the genuine, from-the-gut laughs that are so rare. When it happens though - along with the times Mustang pats him on the shoulder or commends him for a job well done - Ed feels strangely warm, like he’s done something right. It reminds him of when his mother used to praise him for his alchemy. 

The first time Ed messes up a job, he’s surprised by how much Mustang’s disappointed sigh feels like a crowbar to his ribs. Anger, he could deal with. Shouting, he could deal with. Mustang’s frown, and the words “I expected more from you,” he can’t seem to deal with. Shame and guilt churn his stomach; it reminds him of when Izumi would berate him for breaking the rules. Al apologizes for both of them, while Ed crosses his arms and hides behind his bangs. Why does he care what Mustang thinks, anyway? He’s just some soldier, the officer he reports to, a mission dispenser, a meal ticket. 

Then Mustang saves his life for the first time, and he’s standing, frantic and furious, in front of Ed as dust and soot settle around them. He grips Ed’s shoulders, and Ed looks at him, and he says, “Fullmetal, I swear, if you ever do anything this reckless again I will chain you to a desk and you will do nothing but write reports for a full calendar year, understood?” 

And then Mustang hugs Ed, just for a moment. Ed is thirteen and the top of his head doesn’t even clear Mustang's shoulder, but that isn't why he feels small. It lasts just long enough for him to realize what’s happening, and then it’s over. “You hate my reports,” Ed says in a daze. He might have a concussion; that pipe hit him pretty hard.

“I'd rather be signing your terrible reports than your death certificate. Go to your brother,” Mustang orders. Then Mustang leaves to clean up Ed's mess, stranding him, swaying, in the middle of the smoke-filled street. Ed wonders if the guy Mustang pulled off of him is still alive.

Ed wonders why Mustang hugged him. Ed wonders why he felt so safe, just then, smothered in the starchy fabric of Mustang's uniform and the cloying scent of his aftershave. Ed wonders if Hohenheim would have smelled of aftershave. Would it even matter if he did? Would he have praised Ed? Berated him? Hugged him? Saved him?

Ed wonders what the word _father_ really even means.

He is definitely concussed.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly I don't think Roy sees himself as a father figure to Ed, and Ed would never ACKNOWLEDGE Roy as a father figure, but you have to admit their relationship smacks of familial tension. Ed's vitriol towards Roy in canon is just misplaced anger at Hohenheim bc his dynamic with Roy is juuuust similar enough to sting. also if you can see my own daddy issues in this fic no you can't <3


End file.
